Research to establish indirect methods of determining human body composition began during the 1940s. Renewed interest in the assessment of human body composition has stimulated the need for a balanced understanding of available methodologies of estimating fat-free mass and fat mass. Subsequently a variety of methods has been introduced. However, attempts to describe the theory and practice of individual methods have been limited. The review summarizes the background and to describe the precision or error of skinfold thickness measurement and to highlight the strengths and the limitations of bioelectrical impedance method.

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[in Japanese]

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The purpose of this study was to provide information on the requirement of nutrition, especially of the protein during rapid weight reduction imediately before a competition of a weight-classification system sport, boxing. Weight reduction period was 9 days. Subjects were divided into three groups of free diet group (group A: n=5), high protein diet group (group B: n=5) and ordinary protein diet group (group C: n=4). Group A had taken food ad libitum. Group B had taken 2.0g/kg/day of protein in the first half and 1.5g/kg/day of protein in the second half of weight reduction period, and Group C had taken 1.0g/kg/day of protein throughout weight reduction period. Groups B and C had taken 2, 000kcal/day in the first half and 1, 200kcal/day in the second half of weight reduction period. Anthropometry and nutritional investigation were performed, and urine components were analyzed. The main results obtained were as follows;
1) Calory and protein intake in Group A averaged 883kcal/day and 0.9g/kg/day in the second half of weight reduction period.
2) 3-methylhistidine and urea nitrogen in urine and 3-Me/Cr increased significantly at the end of weight reduction period in Group A, but decreased significantly in groups B and C. Nitrogen balance changed to a negative value only in group A. Differences in each of urine components were statistically significant between group A and the other two groups at the end of period.
3) Heart rate and oxygen intake at the same submaximal work load increased signifihantly in group A at the end of weight reduction period, but in groups B and C no noticeable changes were observed.
Following conclusion was derived: when food was taken ad libitum throughout the weight reduction period, the protein of the whole body muscle was brought on surplus degradation and oxygen in take at the same submaximal work load increased. Therefore, group a might suffer disadvantage in keeping health and physical performance. Athletes are essential to take at least 1, 200kcal/day of food energy and 1.5g/kg/day of protein when trying to reduce weight immediately before competition.

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Housing science needs to concern itself with how to improve space for family communication because it plays an important role in human dwelling life. The purpose of this report (Parts I, II & III) is, hence, to elucidate various factors conditioning family communication, and spatial traits of the rooms where it is conducted, based on the survey of the households of students at women's junior colleges.
Part I delves into what is specifically communicated within a family and how it is related with other living activities, by grasping how communication is practiced in everyday family life. A basic analysis is made as to how conscious a family members are of their mutual communication, and how rooms are used for it.
It has become clear that family communication is closely related with meal-taking both behaviorally and spatially, and that different attitudes among a family members toward family communication cause different modes, and evaluations of it.
It has proved to be necessary, for the further studies of family communication, to give an analytical perspective to an in-depth examination of how rooms in the target families are used and how every member views and evaluates their family communication.

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Part II, based on the findings of Part I, tries to identify family Communication by delving into how it is actually practiced in view of spatial conditions within a house, and familial consciousness. Specific spatial conditions have been sampled of the housing of students at women's junior colleges, and how their family members mutually Communicate and evaluate it has been analyzed. Their views of “family” have also been examined.
The findings are as follows:
1) The number of rooms, and the width of the room (s) used for family Communication are major determining factors in separating family Communication from other living activities.
2) The above separation is affected by whether family Communication is practiced in a Japanese-style room or a Western-style one.
3) The perceptional difference of the concent of “family” among a family members principally determines how they engage in family Communication and how they evaluate it.
It has proved to be necessary to consider, for a spatial analysis, what kind of posture each member takes when mutually Communicating, seeking comfort and relaxation at home.

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Utilizing an ultrasonic device (B-mode, 7.5MHz), the thickness of subcutaneous fat was measured at 54 different points in the bodies of 59 males (aged 20-25) and 66 females (aged 20-23). The results were as follows;
1. The females had significantly thicker subcutaneous fat than those of the males at every point measured.
2. The thick subcutaneous fats were obsereved at the abdomen, buttocks, and the anterior and medial parts of the thigh in the males, and at the breast, buttocks, abdomen, the posterior, medial, and anterior parts of the thigh, and the anterior, medial, and posterior parts of the upperarm in the females, respectively.
3. The subcutaneous fat of both sexes was more likely to be thicker in body parts closer to the trunk than the extremities.
4. The correlation coefficient between the percent body fat and the mean thickness of subcutaneous fat obtained from data was 0.91 for the males and 0.83 for the females.

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